The Sharpest Lives
by xOhxSnapx
Summary: Spoiler warning. Nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts things are beginning to stir. Though Harry Potter’s scar had not pained him since the day of the Dark Lords demise that leaves the question of what could possibly be happening in the magical com
1. Worry Wart

**The Sharpest Lives**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the character and such that have appeared in the HP series. Sad, I know.  
**A/N:** a friend and me played a guessing game with appearances and a few other things, and houses. Actually, I rather like it.  
**Summary: Spoiler warning. **Nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts things are beginning to stir. Though Harry Potter's scar had not pained him since the day of the Dark Lords demise that leaves the question of what could possibly be happening in the magical community?

-----

"_It did for me._"

He pondered his father's words. What if the Hat only did him that favor? What if it refused to listen to what he had to say? Albus glanced next to him at his brother meaning to ask him but James was busy taking the mickey out of Victoire. He sighed and sat back in his seat and stared longingly out the window. Maybe if he wished hard enough he could make this all go away. Couldn't he have been more like Rose? Even she looked more at ease than he did!

Albus wrinkled his nose. What would happen if he did get sorted into Slytherin? He didn't want to think on that, really, but his mind betrayed him. He got a vivid image of his parents trying to look pleased about it, and James just taking a laugh at it. None of that was like his family, except for James, that is. He would find a strange sort of glee in it. Wouldn't that mean that they couldn't talk to each other as much as they had liked, then? He bit his lip in thought and fidgeted in his seat.

The movement was not unnoticed by Rose who had reached out and patted his leg, smiling.

"A few more hours!" She whispered loud enough for him to hear over the arguing of James and Victoire. "Al, it'll be brilliant. Think of the stories Dad's told us, and what Uncle Harry-"

He blinked at his cousin. "Yeah, what Dad did, I know," and he smiled a bit. _What Dad did_, it made everything sound so much less scary.

Suddenly, James jumped to his feet with a "Whoop!" punching the air around him. "I knew it! I bloody _knew_ it! Victoire and Teddy! Oh, man, wait until the house finds out. Does Uncle Bill know? Blimey!" He could have done a dance around the compartment, by the looks of it. But Victoire wasn't having any of it. She stood up and poked James square in the chest causing the younger boy to flinch.

"We are not 'aving this conversation!" She hissed at him, Albus stifled a laugh while Rose giggled. "It does not leave ze compartment," and the she cursed at him in French before sitting down again. James frowned before sitting down across from here again.

Rose fiddled in her seat, pulling her legs under her as she sat. Looking down at her for a moment or two in silence before she gasped. Looking between the two brothers as if she had just realized that only one of them had red hair, She pointed to Albus, a gesture that made him flinch, and said to James, "Where's he going to change, then? Mum told me to change before we arrived. You and Victoire changed before we got on the train, too. Al didn't. He's got to before we get to school!" Her voice hit a high note as she said this, it could have rivaled a squeal.

Albus felt his ears burn and was very certain that they were red. He looked to his brother hopefully, but scowled when he saw that ever-present grin. Realizing what James was about to say he planted his head into his hands and groaned. Why couldn't Mum have told him to change before they left? Now he would have to change in front of his cousins, his _girl_ cousins. He was vaguely aware that Victoire had snickered something to herself in French before turning her back to him. With a sigh he got up to grab his trunk and said, "I'll be in Hufflepuff at this rate."

James had a row of laughter of which Albus tried fiercely to ignore.

Rose closed her eyes and waited patiently for him to quickly dress. The only thing that worried Albus was if someone were to walk past their compartment and see him with his trousers down. The very thought made him pulled them on and off much faster than he had ever done so in his life. Then came the white shirt, then the jumper, necktie, and lastly his robes. "Okay," he said quietly sitting down so that he could tie his shoes and stuff away his discarding clothing.

Victoire turned back around, and Rose opened her eyes. James smirked, giving his brother a hard pat on the back. "Not such a fuss, then? Did the same thing my first year. Vickie here had a right old laugh, didn't you?" Victoire scoffed and said nothing. "'Course Mum had told her to sit with me, too, and she had her friend with come with her. Can't say they like me much now," he said, his voice full of gloat.

Rose and Victoire rolled their eyes while Albus smiled faintly. "Yeah?" he asked, sounding hopeful. "What's it like, then, being sorted I mean. Is it anything like Uncle Ron says?"

James' smirk grew wider. "Oh, yeah. Yeah. Terrible, awful, actually. Mental torture it is. You sit up there, in front of everyone and they judge you based on four questions asked by the Head of each house. Your answers decide your house. Best not to think about it, really. They say if you try to hard they make you start all over!"

There Albus sat. He didn't believe James had said. The Hat still did the sorting, Dad told him so! And even Rose was giving James her 'You're a complete idiot' look before shaking her head with a snort. That was some relief at least.

"There are times when I hate you so much, you know," Albus tried earnestly, looking at his brother. He failed and slouched.

James grinned, throwing an arm over Albus' shoulders. "Aw, I love you too, Al!"

"I'm not knowing you," Victoire said, meaning it. "I don't 'ave to live in the same 'ouse as you, I'm glad."

"Oh!" Cried Rose, jumping to her feet. "Look, we're almost there!"

Albus groaned quietly to himself. Hufflepuff was looking to be a better choice than Slytherin now, and he didn't think he'd mind Hufflepuff at all. If he could live past this night without much embarrassment then he was sure that he could handle the rest of the year, he decided as he shrugged off James.


	2. Being Sorted

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the character and such that have appeared in the HP series. Sad, I know.  
**A/N:** I am very cruel to Rose and Albus, you find. But what I did, I did for a reason. I am very sneaky, you see.  
**Summary: Spoiler warning. **Nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts things are beginning to stir. Though Harry Potter's scar had not pained him since the day of the Dark Lords demise that leaves the question of what could possibly be happening in the magical community?

------

He couldn't recall how long he sat in the boat exactly, he just remembered looking at Rose who was huddled into herself as she could be with her arms wrapped around her knees. He remembered the blonde boy who held the lamp with a scowl. And then there was the other girl who was looking so far over the side of the boat that little ringlets of her hair touched the water. The boat rocked softly back and forth and Albus moved away from the edge, knocking knees with the blonde boy. They looked at each other a moment before having to duck their heads.

Rose gave a small gasp and said something about it being just like her mum had said it was. The girl who had been looking over the side of the boat was busy trying to wring the water out of her hair now, but the task seemed rather hard while they had to keep their heads ducked. The curtain of ivy that hung over head tickled and itched at the back of Albus' neck and he moved his hands to cover the exposed skin. The boy with the lamp just seemed to have hunched forward as if to avoid ducking his head. It seemed to have worked for him.

When the four of them finally managed to scramble out of the boat when it had come to a stop at a sort of underground dock they saw at last how great their numbers were and Albus breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the rest of the other first years clamber out of their boats made him think that he wasn't the only one that was nervous about being sorted into a house. He couldn't exactly hear a word that was going on around them, he just managed to follow Rose and the rest of the first years up some steps until they had to come to a halt in a hall before some big oak doors.

They were told to wait for a moment, and waiting was fine by him. Albus was sure that everyone else could hear his heart pounding in his chest. He made way to the nearest wall and threw himself against it. Rose, who had spotted him straight away, roll her eyes and walked toward him, her arms were crossed.

"You're not still worried, are you?" She asked, patting his arm in comfort. "Mum says it's nothing to worry about, really. You've just got to stop listening to James."

Albus grunted in reply. Stop listening to James? That had never been done before. His own mother couldn't stop listening to him. Right now he wished that Lily could have been able to take his place. He wouldn't have minded coming to school two years later. She wanted to go anyway, didn't she? There was always the chance that he could somehow get himself expelled, but he didn't think his mum would like that very much if it happened.

Another first year shifted on his right, and Albus recognized him as the blonde boy from the boat. In this lightening they were quite able to see each other more clearly. His features had a slight point to them, not yet fully pronounced, and he stood with his hands in his pockets. The other girl from the boat was there too. She was a good contrast to the boy with her round face and sandy ringlets. Not to mention, she wasn't scowling and looking rather stony.

"What house d'you think you'll get?" Asked the girl quietly to Rose. "Mum says she would be thrilled if I were a Ravenclaw. Dad doesn't mind which house as long as it's not Slytherin."

The boy snorted. "Doesn't seem to matter much now, does it? What house we're all in," he said bitterly. "A house is a house, as far as I'm concerned. Still, _I_ fancy myself in Slytherin."

Rose blinked. "Do you? I'm hoping for Gryffindor myself," she said with a shrug of her shoulders. Albus grinned faintly through their conversation.

He said, "Hufflepuff myself," this was meant as a joke, though only Rose got it for she rode on the train with him. While she giggled the blonde boy raised eyebrows and turned away finding the wooden doors more fascinating.

Albus could see why: Two heads poked through the doors, looking around curiously before breaking out into a grin. At once Albus recognized who exactly was peeking out into the hall. His brother James, and Jay Jordan, James' best mate. They stay at the door long before pushing themselves through to look at the first years closely. Red hair clashed with black hair as the two friends stood side by side with each other, pointing to various first years. Albus felt himself wanting to melt and become one with the floor beneath him.

"All right, you lot!" Exclaimed James climbing atop the railing to the stairs. "You're all going to be sorted in a moment and we're here to tell you that it won't be pretty!"

Jay smirked and nodded. "We're afraid some of you might not make it, actually. Best to think hard on what house you might want or you might just find yourself going back home!"

"James Potter, get down from there!" Cried Rose, clenching her fists. "If you get hurt then I'm telling Aunt Ginny what you've gone and done!"

Among the first years there was a slight uproar, a mixture of panic and awe. Panic because of what the two third years had said, and awe because James Potter had apparently made an appearance. Albus, Rose, and the blonde boy seemed to be the only ones busy chattering up the hall. In fact, Albus looked rather miserable, Rose was looking annoyed, and the blonde boy, well, it was hard to tell what exactly he was thinking, or feeling for that matter. But the girl who stood beside Rose looked as if Christmas had just come early. Her eyes were wide and her jaw had dropped a little.

The two third years were soon shooed out of the hall and the first year's lead through the doors by a professor who had come to collect the first years.

As the all filed into the Great Hall Albus looked around. Their peers were watching them. The hall seemed big enough but with the four tables sitting side by side it made the room look so much more smaller, crowded even. It was not hard at all to tell the houses apart Gryffindor had been the easiest to spot for James and Jay had only just sat down. The two were giving passing first years the thumbs up, cracking grins. Albus and Rose ignored them as they went. They spotted Victoire at another table not even bothering to watch the first years, she was too busy talking, it seemed.

They stood through the Sorting Hats song, all the while Albus mused to himself that the old hat probably seen better days. One by one, they were called up and sorted. Rose was clinging tightly to Albus' arm, waiting wide-eyed for her turn. There seemed to be no order in which they were sorted, even as they were called by last name first.

"Weasley, Rose!" called the professor with the list.

Rose stood frozen to the spot, biting down on her bottom lip. It took a shove from her cousin before she budged. Once sitting on the stool with the hat over her head there was a good three minutes before a shout of, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and the very distinct laugher of James from the Gryffindor table. Rose slid off of the stool whispering repeatedly to herself, "Oh no, oh no," as she made her way to the cheering Hufflepuffs.

"MacMillan, Sarah!"

The blonde boy scoffed crossing his arms. "There's no order. W's before M's!" he hissed impatiently under the cry of, "HUFFLEPUFF!", and Albus had to hold back a laugh.

"Malfoy, Scorpius!"

Both the blonde boy, whom had turned out to be Scorpius, and Albus froze. Stiffly, Scorpius walked forward and sat upon the stool. With the Sorting Hat just barely on his head it have a shout of, "SLYTHERIN!" The cheers came mostly from the Slytherin house as the boy slipped off of the stool, throwing Albus a smirk over his shoulder as he went.

There was still a while of watching others get sorted, and while he watched Albus squirmed. What if his name wasn't on the list? What if he had gotten his letter by complete accident and he was actually meant to attend Durmstrang instead? Could that even be possible that –

"Potter, Albus!"

He froze. Of all the times he had to freeze! It was because people were watching him, he knew. He could just hear them saying, "Albus Potter? What sort of name is that? He must be mental," but in the distance he heard James and Jay cheer loudly through the deafening silence. Slowly he marched forward and sat on the stool, and watched as the students of Hogwarts disappeared from his vision as the Sorting Hat came to rest atop his head.

"Nothing's happening, nothing's happening," he whispered quietly to himself before hearing anobvious _Hmm_.

"_Not terribly fond of Slytherin, I see," _came the voice that only he could hear. "_And a reluctance toward Hufflepuff. An eagerness for Gryffindor, with a witty mind. Now where to put you?"_

Forgetting his father's words about the Sorting Hat, and in his haste of wanting to be sorted, Albus whispered quietly to himself. "Just sort me, just sort me," five times and before he realized what had happened the Sorting Hat called out, "SLYTHERIN!" And Albus, gave a loud cry of, "NO!" as the hat was pulled of his head.

He could see Victoire from the Ravenclaw table stand up, her mouth covered before one of her friends pulled her down. James, at the Gryffindor table slouched down, slack jaw with Jay patting his shoulder. Cheers came from the Slytherin table and soon erupted around the Great Hall. Albus slipped off of the stool and went to sit at the Slytherin table with a thud.

This was it. His life was over. Neither Rose nor himself had been sorted into Gryffindor. They were surely doomed.

"This can't be happening," he groaned, barely listening to the new Headmaster give the start of term speech. He sat there with his head in his hands. "This is all a very, _very_ bad dream. I'm going to wake up very soon. Yes. Mum is going to come in my room and shake me awake and tell me that I'll have just missed breakfast."

Scorpius with a faint snicker leaned over and said into his ear, "You know, you ought to stop talking to yourself. We're all beginning to think you're crazy."

By the time the feast began Albus had managed to sit up fully and take in his new housemates. They didn't seem all that bad, actually, but he began to wonder why it was exactly that the house had put him into Slytherin. He hadn't been thinking anything that might have seemed, well, Slytherin-ish, did he? He shook his head and begun to piled some mashed potatoes onto his plate and begun a to build a small mashed potato mountain only to smash it back down and rebuild it again. He had little to no appetite anymore. But he did manage to take a drink of his pumpkin juice.

Scorpius, from his own meal, broke away from the conversation with the girl sitting across from him, looked over. Shaking his head at the repeated action of building mashed potatoes up and down he nudged Albus in the side with his elbow.

"Do you always do that?" He asked, setting his fork down, staring with rapt interest. "Play with your food I mean. My mother says its bad table side manners."

Albus looked up, grumbled something and returned to his potatoes. Scorpius raised his eyebrows. Well!

"We can do this the old way, then," he continued a bit haughtily. "I'm Scorpius Malfoy, and what the bloody hell is your problem?"

Now Albus stared. "I'm Albus Potter and my problem is I've been sorted into Slytherin!" He hissed. Few people looked their way. Scorpius looked rather pleased with himself and shrugged before returning to his previous conversation, leaving Albus to wonder what had just happened.

Rose, over at the Hufflepuff table, he saw, was looking around the hall and waved at him.

Well, at least she was happy.

She wasn't stuck with Scorpius Talkative Malfoy for a housemate.


	3. Betting Devils

"I hate you."

"Of course."

"No, I mean I _really_ hate you."

"Honestly, I think I get it, Potter."

Albus sighed, slumping down in a chair. It wouldn't do him any good to bash his head on the table or curl up into a ball under the table, either, but that didn't mean that he didn't want to do either of those things. As it happened the numerous stares he was getting was all that was keeping him from slinking under the table and hiding there for the rest of his life. He, by no means, was going to let the population of Hogwarts see how much he was suffering. He was not going to let them get to him just like his brother did. Still, sometimes there was no way around it. In the end they would find out just how much he was suffering and it would all be thanks to the idiot sitting next to him.

Scorpius Malfoy couldn't have been anymore different from what Albus had thought of him. Instead of being the all mighty smarmy bastard that the entire family had thought that he would be he was just annoying. Talking all too much, a little indifferent, stuck up, sure but he was still annoying. It was almost as though Rose had been cloned into a boy - made blonde and given away at birth or something. The two of them were almost exactly alike - in the sense of how annoying they could be.

He glanced across the hall looking for his cousin; and there she was skipping to the Hufflepuff table, bushy red hair pulled into a messy bun. Clearly she couldn't be happier. When she had caught notice of Albus watching her, she threw him a quick way before scampering into a seat next to a blonde girl. Albus groaned. Why him? Why couldn't he have been sorted into a house that he liked? He'd even take Hufflepuff!

Still, the first year plunged his fork into a bit of eggs and then plunged it in again. And again. He had a full plate of food and he wasn't hungry. He just wanted to make it through the day as though nothing was wrong. Maybe if he could just pretend that he was in a better house than things would be okay. Yes, that would have to do, wouldn't it? At least until he came around to liking his house.

Scorpius stirred beside him. "I wonder if anything fascinating will happen this year," he said, clearly ignoring the odd stare he was receiving. "You know, like when our parents were in school. Merlin, what that must've been like."

Albus snorted. "Right," he began slowly. "And I suppose it would just suit your fancy if someone brought Whats-His-Name back, eh?"

The blonde boy narrowed his eyes for a moment before waving his hand. "No, no. I merely mean for the sake of something interesting! Think of all the excitement there would be!"

"You're impossible, you realize." Albus stated.

Scorpius glowered before turning back to his food. Albus hit his head on his plate full of food. Such was their morning.

- - -

"Hey!" Rose exclaimed, slapping Albus on the back later that day as she passed him in the hall.

There was a sound like a dying cow that escaped from the boys mouth before he leered meaningfully at his cousin but he didn't do much else to acknowledge the face that she had just slapped him rather hard on the back. The spot on his back was burning with pain and he was fairly sure that there was a red hand print in it's place. Of all the things she could have done she just had to have slapped him!

Still he threw her a wave an attempted a smile in his grumpy state. He didn't notice her frown until she had stuck out her foot in front of him, sending him flailing to the ground with an ominous _thud_. He gave a loud groan of protest and gazed warily up at his cousin's frowning face. He furrowed his brows and made to fix his glasses that had gone askew.

"What was that for?" He asked as though it were the most hurtful thing in the world to be tripped.

Rose stared down at him for a moment. "You could've said something like, 'Hullo, Rose! How's your day going so far?'" she whined at him, placing her hands on her hips as she watched him stagger to stand back up.

Albus stared at her, boggled. Was she insane after all? What happened to his quiet, sweet cousin and when did she start going around slapping people on the back like that? That was something that James did, and on the occasion, Jay too. "Hullo, Rose, how's your day going so far?" he replied slowly, easing away from her just incase she decided that she wanted to have another whack at his back.

There was a moment that passed between the two of them that made Albus want to hang his head and keep trudging along the corridor as Rose just stood there looking at him. When finally the brunette shrugged her shoulders, brushing hair away from her face he stood to attention watching her carefully. And then Rose did nothing but boggle at him. Albus wanted to throw his hands up in frustration.

"Molly told Roxanne who told Louis who told Fred who told James that she once heard that the Malfoy family were some sort of devil worshipers," Rose finally whispered out to him, her eyes wide as she said this. "So I told Molly that there was no possible way that it could be true, because Malfoy are folk who are too good for that. And you know what she says? She says she heard it from her dad. So, I says to her, 'I bet you ten sickles that you're wrong Molly Weasley!' and then she told me to ask you if Scorpius worships the devil."

Albus stared incredulously at the Hufflepuff that was his cousin. "Wait - what?" he asked dumbly, pushing his glasses up his nose. "How'd her dad figure they worship the devil?" But that wasn't the part that confounded him most. "_You bet Molly ten sickles that she was wrong_?" He sputtered.

Now Albus was quite sure that something was wrong with Rose! Someone must have slipped something into her pumpkin juice this morning at breakfast or something. Maybe she had been walking too close to the Quidditch pictch and got knocked over the head with a passing bludger. Rose was never someone to listen to anything Molly said, never mind the fact that Rose had never won a single bet in her life.

"You might as well hand over your ten sickle, Rose," he sighed, slinging his book bag over his shoulder. "Molly's almost never wrong, you know." And he would have said more if she didn't stick out her bottom lip in the same way that Lily did when she wanted something. He flinched - the girls in his family were all so diabolical!

"Al, Al, Al!" She whined, beating her eyelashes up at him. "Couldn't you just ask Scorpius if his family are devil worshipers?"

Albus sighed. "Couldn't _you_ ask him?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because that would be stupid. You share a room with him."

Albus sputtered. "Not by choice!" he said quickly in his defense. And when a bell chimed he snapped his head to the left and groaned. He was about to be late for Charms. "Fine, I'll ask him, Rose. But if you lose your money don't say I didn't tell you so." And with that he left his cousin standing in the hall with a look of glee on her face.

He had all but made a mad dash for the class room, clutching his book bag close to him so his papers wouldn't go flying and his books wouldn't fall. When he had finally managed to round the corner he slid into the classroom just before the door closed behind him. There was no way that he would be caught outside of class on the first week of school! He'd heard stories from Teddy that there were some professors who prowled the halls for students out of class. He shuddered at the thought.

As he looked around the class for a seat it dawned on him that there was only one left open and he heaved a sigh of relief. That brief moment of relief was cut short once he noticed that the seat was next to Scorpius. Well, at least he could get the answer to Rose's question and be done with it. Maybe he wouldn't even have to talk to him for the rest of the class after that. Albus was hopeful as he made his way to his seat, ever aware that gray eyes were watching him as he sat down and pulled out parchment and a quill.

Thankfully they wouldn't be casting any sort of charms today. Instead they would sit and listen to a lecture given to them by the professor and asked to take notes that would need to be handed in before class was over. Albus took this time to nudge the boy next to him as he scribbled down his notes.

When Scorpius raised his head and looked over at his quizzically Albus simply handed him a note that he had written quickly containing Rose's question.

Albus swore he heard the sound of teeth grinding together before a quill dropped to the floor and a note was pushed back his way. Then Scorpius head dropped to the table with a thud and Albus had to raise his eyebrows, snorting softly to himself. He picked the note up and read in big, scribbled letters; **FOR MERLINS SAKE, NO WE DO NOT.**

Well, it looked like Rose would be getting ten sickles from Molly after all.


End file.
